


Memorial Day

by nessundorma345 (wastrelwoods)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: American Thunder if you squint really hard, Gen, I made myself sad, Maybe not that hard, Post-Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-13 03:43:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/819562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastrelwoods/pseuds/nessundorma345
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve remembers, because no one else does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memorial Day

People often assume that Steve only goes crazy patriotic for the Fourth and spends the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year waiting for it to come around again. These people are mostly Tony Stark. They are also wrong.

Like today, for example. Today is a day that is special to Steve Rogers, although he both dreads and anticipates its coming each year. Today is viewed by people like Tony as another beautiful day to throw a party in Madison Square Park, a day to give the employees of Stark industries off. Today is viewed by Bruce as just another day, albeit a very nice one. But today, Steve knows, is meant to be a day of remembrance. Maybe even remembrance has become old-fashioned now. He doesn't really mind. 

Steve has quite a lot of graves to visit today. A lot more to remember than most have in a lifetime.

Most of the team won't notice he's gone out until they need help slicing the Memorial Day Watermelon, which is fine by Steve. He relents and takes Thor with him, though, if only because misery loves company and Thor really loves being the company to misery. He doesn't stop talking about Asgard's feasts to remember fallen warriors until they reach the first site.

Almost every one of his teammates are buried here, and he smiles to each one in turn, leaves a flag and a flower, tells a story to the deaf earth. Then he tells Thor about each one in turn; how brave, how smart, how reckless they were. Thor smiles wide, eyes sympathetic. "They dine in Valhalla," he urges. 

Only Bucky is not buried here. Bucky is buried nowhere. There was no body to bury, after all. Thor gives him such worried looks as they leave the graveyard behind that he takes a deep breath and tells that story, too. His eyes spark with shared pain as Steve tells him about the fall, how he could do nothing to prevent it, hearing his best friend's death scream in his nightmares even now, seventy years on. (He doesn't know, but when he returns home tonight, Thor does too, and spends the night in Loki's dusty old chambers in Asgard. He doesn't know, but he suspects.)

Thor flies them across the Atlantic just because, until they're both standing on a mountaintop by a set of dilapidated train tracks looking down at Bucky's grave. Steve plants a flag here as well.

And Thor flies them, on his next request, to a very old grave where Steve pours a shot of German schnapps into the thirsty earth, and thanks the man who first believed in him.

Then they walk to Howard's grave: huge and intimidating and practically screaming 'billionaire'. Thor looks stormily on when Steve tells his stories this time, tells them to the good, brave man he knew Howard Stark to be. "Tony says hello, as well," he lies, at the end, because there was no way that Howard will ever know that his son hasn't been here since the body was laid here.

He wants, briefly, to admonish his old friend for getting so caught up in looking for him that he let his own son fall by the wayside his entire life, but what could he possibly do to make up for it? Remember, that's all you can do in the end.

The last stop is the grave of the last person who believed in him and dies for it. Thor bows out at the gate, clearing his throat and eyes. Steve thanks him for listening. 

He is never sure what to do here, at Coulson's resting place. He has no stories, next to no memories. And so Steve says nothing at all. He smiles wearily at the tombstone, placing the signed trading cards next to the little flag with a whisper of, "Sorry I was too late."

 

Phil watches him go, ignoring the way his heart flips in his chest, and, much like Agent Barnes had done earlier today, twirls the memorial flag between his fingers. "Thank you," he replies to someone long gone, brushing his hand across the tops of the trading cards with a thin smile.


End file.
